Work on Jalalabad railways station launched

JALALABAD (PAN): Construction work on a railways station was launched at a special foundation-laying ceremony in the Hisar Shahi town of eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday. At the same time, work on a new building for the customs department also commenced.

Ministers including finance, Hazrat Omar Zakhelwal, agriculture Mohammad Asif Rahimi, rural rehabilitation and development Wais Ahmad Barmak and refugees Jamahir Anwari and Nangarhar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai attended the ground-breaking ceremony.

Zakhelwal told reporters the railway line between Jalalabad and the Torkham dry port was crucial to the country’s economic prosperity. He added the new building for the customs office was being constructed over a 500 acres of land.

First a surrounding wall will be constructed on the land to make sure that other construction activities continue smoothly, the minister said. He hoped the project would help bring about healthy changes to the region’s economic arena.

Zakhelwal said corruption in the customs department could come under control with installation of sophisticated equipment and machineries at the Torkham port and Jalalabad customs branches.

Later the ministers visited some scanning machines recently installed at the Torkham dry port to check commercial goods.

So far 16 suicide vests, 300 weapons, 900 bottles of beer and 260 of other alcoholic beverages and 450 bags of ammonium nitrate each containing 50 kilograms have been detected since the machines were installed three months ago.

Zakhelwal said the installation earned the government extra income amounting to 2.5 million afghanis and helped prevent illegal exports and imports.

myn/ma